10-point 4th quarter dooms Rockets against Hornets

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 09: Carlos Delfino #10 of the Houston Rockets drives the ball around Ryan Anderson #33 of the New Orleans Hornets at New Orleans Arena on January 9, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 09: Carlos Delfino #10 of the Houston...

NEW ORLEANS - The Rockets' offense was never right, not from the start and not when they led by 12 points with less than four minutes left in the third quarter.

Cracks began to appear even as their win streak reached five games during a high-scoring stretch of 10 wins in 12 games. Their turnover total had been creeping up again, with an average of 18 in the previous three games.

There had been games like Wednesday night's 88-79 loss to the Hornets earlier this season at Minnesota and at Toyota Center against these same Hornets when the break bogged down and 3-pointers missed their mark. But James Harden had kept the offense going long enough for someone off the bench to jump in and turn things around.

The Rockets might have had every reason to expect that to happen again Wednesday, especially when they appeared to get things going in the second half. But the offense that carried them for weeks came apart late and had too many turnovers, allowing the Hornets to light up the fourth quarter and roll to an easy victory at New Orleans Arena.

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The loss ended the Rockets' winning streak while extending their road losing streak against Southwest Division opponents to 12 games.

10 points in final period

The Rockets scored fewer points in the first half (36) and second quarter (14) than they have in any game this season. In the fourth quarter, they managed only 10 points - five fewer than the previous low they had against New Orleans in November. Just to get that, the Rockets needed four meaningless points in the final minute.

"We didn't move the ball. We didn't move our bodies," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "We had some careless turnovers. We weren't making passes; I don't know how we thought we were going to make some of those passes. It's going to catch you, and it caught us tonight."

Harden's late free throw gave him 25 points and him a franchise-record 14 consecutive games with at least 25 points. But he went 1-for-4 and only had three points in the fourth quarter. Those three points made him the Rockets' leading scorer in the quarter.

"We just didn't move the ball, simple," said Harden, who had seven of the Rockets' 23 turnovers. "We got stagnant."

The Rockets missed all nine of the 3-pointers they took in the fourth quarter. Their 22.1 percent-shooting in the quarter was their worst this season.

"I'd say six or seven of them were wide open," McHale said. "We're going to take those 3s. They're good shots for us. We didn't make them. I'm not worried about the shots. It's the turnovers and not keeping them off the glass that killed us."

Slowing the break

The Rockets rank fourth in defensive rebounding percentage; the Hornets are 18th in offensive rebounding. By getting 16 offensive boards, the Hornets not only scored 16 second-chance points but they slowed the Rockets' break as well.

The only time the Hornets did not pound the offensive glass was in the fourth quarter when they did not need the rebounds as Roger Mason Jr. hit five of five fourth-quarter shots, scoring 15 of his 17 points. McHale went with his small lineup, playing Patrick Patterson, Carlos Delfino and Chandler Parsons in the frontcourt, but still could not get the 3-point shooting or running game going.

"We didn't get as much in transition," Rockets guard Jeremy Lin said. "A lot of that had to do with us turning the ball over a lot. We didn't get defensive rebounds, and our shots weren't really falling. We didn't have the same speed we normally play with."

The Hornets had slowed the Rockets in each of their three meetings as they had the Spurs in a win Monday. But the Rockets had run past other pace-control teams, including Memphis and Chicago, often enough to believe they still could go high-speed against other halfcourt teams, including Boston and Philadelphia, on the road trip.

While there had been warning signs of trouble before the fourth-quarter collapse, the streak-ending loss to the Hornets showed exactly where the fixes need to be made.